131

Population Change of Jungle Crows in Tokyo
Mutsuyuki UETA1*, Reiko KUROSAWA2, Shoji HAMAO3, Hiroshi KAWACHI4
and Hiroyoshi HIGUCHI5
1

Wild Bird Society of Japan, 2-35-2 Minamidaira, Hino, Tokyo 191-0041, Japan
Biodiversity Lab, The Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University,
Nishi 8, Kita 18, Kitaku, Sapporo 060-0819, Japan
3
Institute for Nature Study, National Science Museum,
5-21-5 Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-0071, Japan
4
Tokyo Chapter, Wild Bird Society of Japan, 5-118-16 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0022, Japan
5
Laboratory of Biodiversity Science, School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo,
1-1-1 Yayoi, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan*e-mail: mj-ueta@netlaputa.ne.jp
2

Abstract
We conducted a literature survey on changes in population and distribution of jungle crows(Corvus macrorhynchos) in Tokyo and analyzed possible factors affecting the changes. The number ofcrows in five major roosts in central Tokyo drastically increased in the mid-1980s through themid-1990s, leveling off and/or slightly decreasing afterwards. In 2001 and 2002, 33 crow roost sites
were observed in Tokyo. Although the histories of these minor roosts are poorly known, some of themwere established, or increased in roosting numbers, in the 1990s. Therefore, the increase in crowpopulation in Tokyo has not stopped but entered a different phase.
The period during which the crows started to increase was synchronous with that when domestic
garbage began to be disposed in plastic bags for pickup, but not when the amount of food scraps in the
garbage reached its peak. Considering that buckets with tight lids prevent crows from scavenging thefood scraps inside the container, but that flimsy plastic bags allow crows easy access to the food scraps,
these results suggests that the population of crows in Tokyo was more affected by the change inavailability of food scraps than their quantity.
The distribution of breeding jungle crows increased at urban sites in the 1990s and decreased inwoodlands compared to the 1970s. Jungle crows came to breed in areas with less vegetation cover andhigher urbanization rates, which led to the increase in distribution.
Key words: Corvus macrorhynchos, distribution, garbage, jungle crow, population increase, roost

1. Introduction
Scavenging by jungle crows (Corvus macrorhynchos) has increased in central Tokyo, resulting in
noticeable messes around temporary garbage disposalsites, and causing conflicts between humans andcrows in this highly urbanized environment(Kurosawa et al., 2000, 2001, 2003). Attendant withthis phenomenon is an increase in the population ofjungle crows, which is attributed to a sharp rise in theamount of food scraps readily available for the flying
scavengers (Kurosawa et al., 2000). An increase in
the crow population of Tokyo has been suggested
based on occasional counts in a few large roostingsites (Kawachi, 2000). It is essential, however, todetermine the current status of crows in Tokyo and thefactors that may have affected the population changes
in order to consider measures to solve the conflicts

between humans and crows.
Tokyo has experienced several drastic changes inenvironment since 1945: a rise from the ashes afterlarge-scale air raids in 1945, rapid urbanization in the
1960s associated with the high growth rate of theJapanese economy, and severe pollution of the air andwater due to industrial waste and household refuse in
the 1970s. In the 1980s, however, as the environment was remediated and the trees on the streets grew,
wildlife, especially birds and insects, started to returnto central Tokyo (Tokyo Environmental Pollution
Bureau, 1998). Considering this major change in theenvironment, it is of great interest to see how theJungle Crow population and habitat use have changed.
Here we report on the changes in the populationand the distribution of jungle crows in Tokyo based on
counts at the roost sites and results of the breeding
surveys. Considering additional information, includ-132

M. UETA et al.

ing vegetation maps and changes in the amount ofgarbage in the city, we discuss possible causes of theseobserved changes.

2. Methods
2.1 Change in the roosting population and related
factors
We collected data on the population of roosting
crows in Tokyo mainly from published reports.
There were five roost sites occasionally monitored in
downtown Tokyo: the Institute for Nature Study, Meiji
Shrine, Toshimagaoka Cemetery, Rikugien Park, andUeno Park (Kuroda, 1972; Obara et al., 1982; Urban
Bird Society of Japan, 1988; Karasawa et al., 1991,
1996; Environment Agency, 1992; Hisai et al., 2000;
Tokyo Metropolitan Government, 2002, 2003).
Among data from the counts conducted between
December and February, we used the average numbersof roosting crows when more than one count was
carried out during a single period. The winter of1998 represents the period from December 1998 to
February 1999.
Since jungle crows in an urbanized area are frequently observed to scavenge food scraps at garbage
stations (Kurosawa et al., 2000, 2001, 2003), they
probably rely on food scraps in central Tokyo.
Therefore, we looked at the amount of garbage in thiscity listed in the Tokyo Statistical Yearbook as a factor
responsible for the change in crow population.
2.2 Changes in breeding distribution and affecting
factors
We used breeding bird surveys conducted by theEnvironmental Pollution Bureau of Tokyo (1980) andthe Environmental Conservation Bureau of Tokyo(1998), for analysis of changes in the breeding distribution of jungle crows in Tokyo.
We included data from bird surveys conducted in
the 1970s (1973, 1974 and 1978) and 1990s (1997).
We also distributed a questionnaire to local birdwatchers asking for their observation records on theprobabilities of breeding birds as well as a literature
review. We divided the area of Tokyo into 1.1 × 0.9 km
grids. The survey grids were distributed equally inTokyo, resulting in 317 grids in total in the 1970s and
324 in the 1990s.
One bird census route of
approximately 1 km in length was set up in each ofthese grids. The surveys were carried out twice
during May to June (August at the latest). Walking
along the census routes at a speed of approximately
2 km/hr, survey workers recorded the species, thenumber and the breeding status of birds observed orheard on the routes. Jungle crows were recorded as
breeding birds when their nests, nest-building, foodcarrying or the occurrence of a pair in a likely habitat
were observed on the census routes. The same criteria were used in the questionnaire. We compared
the numbers of jungle crows either observed orrecorded in the questionnaire of both periods of the
1970s and 1990s for the distribution. The analysis of
the distribution was made on the results from the grids
where the surveys were conducted in both the 1970s
and 1990s.
In order to investigate the factors affecting theobserved distributional changes, we firstly divided thestudy area into three categories: (1) jungle crows
breeding in the 1990s, (2) the crows breeding in both
periods, and (3) the crows ceasing to breed in the
1990s. We then analyzed the changes in habitats
among these categories. Secondly, we used vegetation maps to examine the habitat preferences of jungle
crows. This analysis, conducted for both the 1970s
and 1990s, would detect any change in crow habitat
preference. The habitat factors were classified by
TWINSPAN (Hill, 1979), and the crows were represented by maximum frequency of occurrence in eachclass. Habitat groupings were conducted a maximum of three times, and the vegetation characteristics
were classed into 0, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100%. Whena group contained < 20 grids, the calculation was
halted.
We also analyzed other factors affecting the breeding of crows, such as vegetation coverage (%) andurbanization (%) in 20% intervals, so as to see theireffects on the distribution of crows.
The vegetation maps for 1974 and 1998 were madeand published by the Tokyo Government (Environmental Conservation Bureau of Tokyo, 2003). We
input these maps with the geographic information
system (GIS) using ArcView software (ESRI) andmeasured the areas of each habitat group: woodlands,
other stands of tall vegetation, farmlands (rice paddies,
grasslands, and crop fields combined), wetlands,
park-like habitats (park and residential areas with richvegetation), and urbanized areas. The vegetation
coverage represented the areas of woodland andparkland combined.
Since the survey grids were made on thethird-level grid on a national map with a latitudelongitude basis, they have slight differences in theareas of the north and south boundaries. For the
analysis, therefore, the proportion of each habitatgroup was used after excluding those where information on vegetation was incomplete.

3. Results and Discussions
3.1 Changes in the roosting population of crows
and related factors
Figure 1 shows the population change of crows at
the five major roosts in central Tokyo. The crows increased in the 1980s through the 1990s. An especially sharp increase occurred between 1995 and 1998,
which then leveled off and/or slightly decreased.
The distribution of known crow roosts as of 2001
and 2002 in and around Tokyo is shown in Fig. 2. It
indicates the presence of numerous minor roost sites

Population Change of Jungle Crows

besides those monitored sites, which are indicated inred. The history of these smaller roosts is mostly
unknown except for a few cases. For instance, thecrow roost at Hitachi Central Research Center incentral-western Tokyo was first observed in 1990
(Nanae Kato, pers. comm.) and held about 600 crows
in Dec. 2001. Another roost site in Dairokudaiba on
the waterfront of central Tokyo did not have a crowroost in Dec. 1996 (Masae Narusue & Nanae Kato,
pers. comm.). The crows started to use this site forroosting between 1998 and 2000, when 300 crows
were counted in Dec. 2001. In Hamarikyu Park,
central-eastern Tokyo 200-300 crows roosted in 1996
(Masae Narusue & Nanae Kato, pers. comm.), and thenumber of roosting crows increased, with 700 crows
in Dec. 2001 and 855 in Dec. 2002. There is a reportthat jungle crows started to increase in Chiba
Prefecture, east of Tokyo in 1994 (Koshikawa, 1999).
Similarly, jungle crows increased in Kanagawa
Prefecture, south of Tokyo. In a survey between

Fig. 1

Annual changes in the number of crows counted atfive major roosts in Tokyo (from Kuroda, 1972; Obaraet al., 1982; Urban-bird Society of Japan, 1988;
Karasawa et al., 1991, 1996; Environment Agency,
1992; Hisai et al., 2000; Tokyo Metropolitan
Government, 2002, 2003).
The count ofToshimagaoka Cemetary in 1985 was probably anunderestimate, where a minimum of 1,000 crows were
expected (Fumio Nakamura, pers. comm.). The
same numbers in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 represent the sameroost sites.

Fig. 2The distribution of crow roost sites in and aroundTokyo (made from the data of Tokyo 2002, and 2003).
Red dots represent the five major roost sites in Fig. 1.

133

1983 and 1985, approximately 11,000 crows (jungle
and carrion crows C. corone combined) were counted(Roost Research Group, 1986), whereas about 41,000
crows were counted in 2001, indicating a four-foldincrease (Wild Bird Society of Japan, 2001). Thechange was most prominent in the urbanized areas
east of the Sagami River, showing a six-fold increase.
On the other hand, the rural and natural areas, west of
the river had no increase in crow population.
These data suggest that the increase in jungle
crows roosting at the major roost sites in central
Tokyo has slowed or stopped. It may not, however,mean that the increase in the overall crow population
has peaked, when the increase of smaller roost sites aswell as the spread of jungle crows into the neighboring prefectures is considered. It may suggest that theincrease of the crow population in central Tokyo hasentered into a different phase.
The amount of garbage in Tokyo increased between the 1960s and the 1970s, and then leveled off
until 1989, when it started gradually to decrease(Fig. 3). In order to determine the effect of garbage
on the crows, it is more appropriate to quantify foodscraps in garbage as an index of food resources for thecrows. The published statistics on the proportion offood scraps in garbage (dry weight) dealt with theperiod of 1974 to 1998. It showed that the proportion fluctuated from approximately 20% between
1974 and 1979, decreasing to about 15% in 1980, andstabilizing until 1998 with only a few changes between the years (Tokyo Cleaning Bureau, 1993; Oki etal., 1993; Mimori et al., 1994). The amount of foodscraps hit a peak in 1980 and then leveled off until
1990, when it started to decrease. It is unlikely,
therefore, that the increase in food scraps had a direct
bearing on the population explosion of crows from the
1980s to 1990s.
A major change occurred in the garbage collection
system in 1986. Garbage was put out in plastic bags,
instead of conventional dustbins at garbage stations on
the streets (Kurosawa et al., 2003). This coincidedwith the time that Japanese women started to join thelabor force, resulting in fewer homemakers available
to retrieve the dustbins from the garbage stations afterFig. 3

Annual changes in quantity of garbage in Tokyo(from Tokyo Statistical Yearbook).

134

M. UETA et al.

the garbage was collected. As a result, most of the
dustbins were left out on the streets throughout the
day of garbage collection, obstructing traffic (Saitoh,1999). The easy availability of disposable plastic
bags, associated with the advent of supermarkets,
encouraged people to put their garbage in plastic bags
at garbage stations. The Cleaning Bureau of Tokyo
made a compromise and allowed the use of “plasticbags in dustbins.” This compromise opened the door
for the use of plastic bags without dustbins, leading toa rapid spread of garbage disposal in plastic bags.
Then in 1993, Tokyo banned the use of dark plastic
bags, designating transparent bags instead. Thismeasure was taken to enhance the recycling of wastematerials because see-through bags enabled garbage
collectors to ensure that the contents were correctlyclassified (Saitoh, 1999).
The time that the crows started to increase roughly
coincided with the start of plastic bag use for garbage
disposal, which was in 1986. The actual increase in
the crow population started earlier than 1986. However, plastic bag use preceded the official permissionof 1986. A field survey showed that garbage inplastic bags was frequently scavenged (Kurosawa etal., 2000), because flimsy plastic bags are easy forcrows to puncture, while buckets with lids prevent
crows from scavenging. It is highly likely, therefore,that food scraps in plastic bags that are readily

Fig. 4

available for crows have allowed their population toincrease in Tokyo.
The use of transparent plastic bags from 1993 also
probably facilitated scavenging by crows, because
food scraps in the bags are recognizable from outside.
For example, Kurosawa et al. (2001) reported thatgarbage in transparent plastic bags was scavenged
more frequently compared to that in colored bags.
Therefore, the use of transparent bags facilitated theforaging of crows. Another peak in the crow population occurred between 1995, two years after the introduction of transparent bags, and 1998. We do not
have, however, any direct evidence showing that theuse of transparent bags was responsible for this rise incrow population.
3.2 Changes in the breeding distribution
The breeding distribution of jungle crows is shownin Fig. 4. The grids in which jungle crows bredincreased from 145 in the 1970s, to 181 in the 1990s.
There was a significant increase of 36 grids measured
in proportion (53% to 66% ; χ2 = 9.87, df = 1, P <0.01).
In the 1990s, breeding Jungle Crows
increased in southwestern Tokyo close to Kanagawa
Prefecture, and in eastern Tokyo close to Chiba
Prefecture. On the other hand, the natural areas ofwestern Tokyo, at a higher elevation, have lost breeding crows in several grids in the 1990s. When we

Differences in the breeding distribution of jungle crows in the 1970s and the 1990s.
(from Environmental Pollution Bureau, 1980; and Environmental Conservation Bureau, 1998).
Red dots indicate grids where jungle crows were confirmed to breed, pink grids show the areas
surveyed in both periods, and green grids show the areas where inquiries were made in both periods.

Population Change of Jungle Crows

compared the changes in vegetation, no obvious trend
was detected among those grids with a crow increase,crow decrease, or no change (Fig. 5).
The vegetation characteristics of the study areas
were classified into six groups by TWINSPAN; urbansites, urban sites with park-like sites, residential sites
with farmlands, farmlands, wooded sites mixed withfarms and residential sites, and woodland sites. The
frequency of grids where jungle crows were confirmed to breed was greater in the wood-farm-residential sites than in the urban sites in the 1970s. On theother hand in the 1990s, the frequency of grids waslarger in urban and farmland sites than in the
woodland sites (Fig. 6). When habitat differenceswere compared between the two periods, in the 1990s
jungle crows were present in a greater frequency ofgrids classified as urban sites (χ2 = 12.29, df = 1, P <0.001), park-like urban sites (χ2 = 6.69, df = 1, P <0.01), and residential sites with farmlands (χ2 = 7.09,
df = 1, P < 0.05). On the other hand, a lower frequency of grids had jungle crows in woodlands (χ2 =
4.25, df = 1, P＜0.05). There was no change in theFig. 5

Changes in habitats, (1) jungle crows ceased to breed in
the 1990s (green dot: N = 82), (2) they started to breedin 1990s (red dot: N = 46), and (3) they continued tobreed in both periods (open dot: N = 99).

Fig. 6

Differences in the frequency of jungle crow breeding ineach habitat class in the 1970s and in the 1990s. US:
urban site, UP: urban site with park-like site, RF:
residential site with farmland, FL: farmland, WF:
wooded site mixed with farms and residential sites,
WL: woodland. The value above the bar shows the
sample size, * indicates a significant result.

135

frequency of breeding jungle crows in farmlands (χ2 =
1.70, df = 1, P = 0.19), or in woodlands mixed withother habitats (χ2 = 1.47, df = 1, P = 0.22).
We compared differences in habitats within thetwo periods to determine the factors affecting breeding jungle crows. We chose the rate of urbanizationand the vegetation coverage (woodland and park-likesites combined). The habitats where vegetation
coverage was between 60 and 80% showed thehighest frequency of breeding jungle crows in the
1970s, while they bred less frequently in the habitats
with either more or less vegetation cover. In the
1990s, on the other hand, jungle crows bred in 60% of
the habitats with vegetation cover between 0% and80%, with the highest percentage occurring in thosewith 40 - 60% coverage. In the 1990s, breeding was
significantly more frequent in the areas with scarce
vegetation cover (0 - 20% and 20 - 40%), (χ2 = 16.96,
df = 1, P < 0.0001, χ2 = 5.46, df = 1, P = 0.019,
respectively). Urbanization had a negative effect on
the breeding density of crows in the 1970s, with thehighest density in habitats with only 0 - 20% urbanization. In the 1990s, however, the reverse effect wasobserved. The breeding density of jungle crows waslowest in areas with 0 - 20% urbanization, and 60% of
the breeding areas were within sites showing higher

Fig. 7

Differences in the frequency of breeding jungle crowat sites with varying vegetation coverage (above) andurbanization rates (below) in the 1970s (grey bar) andthe 1990s (dark bar). The value above the bar shows
the sample size, * indicates a significant result.

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M. UETA et al.

urbanization rates (Fig. 7).
The habitats withurbanization rates of 20 - 40%, 60 - 80%, and 80 100% showed a significantly higher breeding density
in the 1990s (χ2 = 4.46, df = 1, P = 0.035, χ2 = 11.19,
df = 1, P < 0.001, χ2 = 6.65, df = 1, P = 0.001,
respectively).
The results thus suggest that jungle crows broadened their breeding habitat preference in the 1990s
compared to the 1970s, and they came to breed inareas with less vegetation cover and higher urbanization rates, which led to the spread of their distribution.
One of the major factors which caused this change
was probably the increased availability of food scraps
in the urbanized areas, as was shown previously inthis paper. Also possible are hypotheses that theincreased population caused crows to breed in lesssuitable habitat, the trees on the streets in Tokyo grew
up in the period from the 1970s to the 1990s,
providing crows with nest sites, and jungle crows
became less afraid of humans due to “nature education,” resulting in their breeding closer to humans.
We have yet to know which of these factors has had
the greatest effect on the change of the breeding
distribution of jungle crows in Tokyo. It is likelythat some or all of the above factors combined toaffect the jungle crow distribution in Tokyo. In order
to consider solutions to man-crow conflicts inurbanized areas, it is essential to identify the major
factors that have contributed to the increased breeding
range of jungle crows. Further study on this matteris required.

Acknowledgements
Gen Morimoto gave us valuable advice on
statistical analysis. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government made available information on the crow roosting
population, breeding distribution and vegetation maps.
Fumio Nakamura provided us with his unpublisheddata. Takashi Kurosawa read the earlier draft of thismanuscript to improve the English. We express
special gratitude to these people.
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(in Japanese)(Received 31 October 2003, Accepted 2 December 2003)